The Village of Illusion
by GoddessOfVictory
Summary: Kanda and Miranda are unfortunaltey paired up together to go on a mission. They were to search for a village where the villagers are only women, and man were reported to be disappearing around the area? Will something grow from this odd partnership?
1. Chap 1: The Unlikely Team

Disclaimer – I do not own any of the characters. This story is purely fictional.

**Village of Illusion**

**A/N - I have revised this chapter with a little bit of dialogues add to it. Those of you who have read the previous version, let's see if you can find the new changes I have made.**

**CHAPTER 1 – The Unlikely Team**

* * *

It was another chaotic day at the Black Order's headquarters. Phones were constantly ringing and papers scattered everywhere on thefloor. The young exorcist stride through the scientist corridor and headed toward the chief's office.

"You called." He stood still waiting for his next mission debrief.

"Ahh, Kanda!' Komui pushed his glasses up his nose as he beamed cheerfully at the young man, "Right on time. Your next mission is to goto Wan Kok, a small village west of shanghai city in China." He handed Kanda a thick stack of papers, "And here are the details. A reportcame in indicating an abnormality occurring in this village where it could potentially be caused by –" He was interrupted by another set of urgent footsteps coming down the hall.

From behind Kanda came a young women crashing into Komui's office. "I.. I am so sorry, Chief!" She cried in her infamously nervous voice.

"I am sooo sorry that I am late. All the corridors here look the same to me so... I.I am terribly sorry!" While trying to catch her breath, she

gave Komui an exaggerated bow to show her apology.

The Chief of the Order grinned in delight, "Ah yes! Almost forgot to mention. For this mission, you will be partnered up with Miss MirandaLotto here. I assume you two have already been acquainted before?"

Partner? A muscle twitched in the swordsman's clenched jaw. Kanda had mentioned to Komui countless of times how he would muchrather go on a mission by himself and not worry about the hinderance of his teammates. He recalled the last time he was partnered up with the newbie Allen Walker turned out to be nothing more but a nuisance.

Miranda turned to offer her hand, but was greeted by Kanda's long black hair slapping across her face as he impatiently walked up to Komui. The two men chatted off at a distance so that Miranda had no clue what was happening. _Oh no. Did I do something wrong again? __Were they waiting too long? Did I scare him with my horrible looks?_ Those were the typical thoughts that came across Miranda's mind.

The room came to a silence as Kanda strode back to his original spot beside Miranda, sneering as he turned and face Komui, who was looking very happy for some reason. Miranda fidgeted slightly.

"Ok, now that that is settled, where was I?" Komui fumbled through the piles of paper on his desk and found his coffee cup. "Oh yes!" He took a sip of the black cold coffee and sighed, "You two are assigned to the village of Wan Kok. A finder reported that the villagers in this village are all women. There are no men that inhabits the village. Rumors have it that several men have been reported missing outside the village. They were all last seen heading towards Wan Kok. However, these are only rumors. It is believed that this phenomenon might be the result of Innocence nearby. I recommend you both not to drink any of the water and consume any food around there as that may be the method of how the villagers came in contact with the Innocence. Now, both of you are tasked to meet up first with our Finder at the Emerald forest, find out if the rumors are true, and what is it that caused the phenomenon? Your priority is to retrieve the Innocence as required. Am I clear?"

"Hmph." Kanda crossed his arms in acknowledgement and Miranda nodded silently next to him.

"Ok boys and girls! Now get out there while I put together my final plans for the greatest Komlin 4!"

* * *

The next day, the two exorcists took off early in the morning to catch a train heading towards China. When they were getting on board, Kanda gave her a warning, "Don't get in my way. If anything happens to you, even on the verge of being killed, or if you obstruct the mission, I will let you die without hesitation. In battle, there are no emotions but sacrifices. Retrieving the Innocence is my priority." Those were the first words he had ever spoken to her.

"I..I... understand. I will try my best" She wrapped her arms around her uncertainly. This wasn't Miranda's first mission. She had actually been with the order for a little over a year and had gone on several missions. Her comrades Allan, Lavi, Lenalee, even Krory have all been very supportive for her and were keen to help her out on her carelessness that she had been fumbling through all her life. But this time, she wanted to work harder and not to be a burden to anyone.

Back in the train, Miranda took her seat across from Kanda. Throughout the ride, it was very quiet. Miranda was not particularly a sociable person as she grew up with hardly any friends and family. However, she felt it was polite to get to know the partner was assigned to go on a mission with. Up until this point, Miranda knew almost nothing about Kanda.

"Eh... Kanda-kun, have you been on a lot of missions lately?" She was hoping would be a good conversation starter.

There was no answer. She looked up to see that his eyes were fixated on the window, leaning back with his arms crossed.

_Maybe he doesn't want to talk about his missions_. "Have you been to China?"

"A few times," His reply was short.

"What do you think about it?" She wanted to know more.

"I don't care much for it."

"Ehh... ok, so do you have any hobbies?"

"No."

"Hmmm. I wonder what style of uniform the Order will come up with next."

"It doesn't matter."

Miranda sighed as she turned her head to the window. _This is going to be a long train ride._

The afternoon sun shone high up in the sky as they walked through the valley towards Shanghai City. Miranda had managed not to fall down the steps when leaving the train. Unfortunately for her suitcase, it tumbled down the stairs, causing the whole thing to pop open.

Disbelief as to how such a klutz could even become an exorcist, Kanda quickened his pace hoping he could lose her behind. He wanted to say so many words of resentment and disappointment to her, but she will always quickly point it out before he can say anything. He passed through the city like a wind when suddenly a call through his golem came in. "Yo Kanda, is your Chief Komui here!"

"Tch, what now?"

"We have lost contact with the finder which you are supposed to meet. I will heighten this mission to red alert. Approach with caution, and

make sure you two stay close together."

"Hmph."

"You haven't left your partner behind yet, have you?" Komui asked.

"Tch..." _How did he know these things?_

"I trust that silence of yours means yes. Well then, I thought we have discussed that your partnership in this mission is crucial to the success of this mission! Remember what I have told you back in my office." Komui took a deep breath and Kanda only heard a moment of silence on the other side before hearing a high pitch scream "NOW GO GET HER BACK!"

Kanda suddenly came across a thought. He didn't feel any resentment when he left Allen behind back in the Ghost of Martel incident. But in this case, Miranda was a woman who could even trip over her own shadow. How could she defend against Akumas if they try to take her Innocence away? _What was her innocence again?_ _Whatever, it doesn't matter. _Suddenly, he felt he was shouldering the responsibility to protect her innocence as well.

Kanda finally came to a stop amid the lively streets of Shanghai. He was waiting for the huffing and puffing Miranda to catch up to him, but she never appeared. He turned around and searched the bustling streets with his dark blue eyes, but no Miranda. Grinding his teeth, he back tracked his path to find his missing partner. "Komui, what the hell did I ever do to you?"

Miranda was humming to herself while browsing happily through the shop windows filled with all kinds of colourful sugary confections.

From the window reflection, she saw an angry Kanda standing behind her.

"Oh Kanda-kun..." She turned around. "I ... bought some more food and water for us. You know when I dropped my suitcase; I had to restock up some more food, and...." She suddenly felt nervous now that she realized he was looking straight at her face, which she had no idea how to reciprocate but with one of her "I..I am so...sorry" response.

He peered over the brown paper bags that she was holding and saw some instant soba noodle packages. "Let's go. And don't apologize ever again. It's annoying." He muttered but with a look of content on his face.

"Oh, ok, I am so..." She quickly covered her mouth with both hands and the grocery fell to the floor. "I will do my best." She smiled with embarrassment.

Kanda took the lead, but this time, he walked a bit slower for Miranda to catch up. Leaving the busy city of Shanghai behind, they walked toward Wan Kok village which lied beyond the other side of the Emerald forest.

* * *

A/N - Hope you all enjoy the story. Don't forget to click the review button and let me know what you think about the story :)

Special thanks to my beta, Koulin, who have done an awesome job!


	2. Chap 2: The Priestess of the Wind

**CHAPTER 2 - The Priestess of the Wind**

Disclaimer – Once again, I do not own any -man characters. Story content is purely random thoughts of my day. Enjoy!

Just want to mention I have revised chapter 1 and added some new dialogues in. Hopefully the revised version will flow way better than the previous one, so let me know if that is the case.

* * *

Their journey was silent through the Emerald Forest. Kanda continued to take the lead while Miranda followed a few meters behind. She could sense the intimidating aura emitting from him, so she kept her distance behind to avoid any confrontation.

As they went deeper into the forest, the darker the surrounding grew. If they wanted to get through the forest before it gets too dark, they would need to quicken up their pace.

The sun was almost set with a bit of orange glow illuminating over the tall century trees. Miranda was getting a little hungry as they haven't eaten anything ever since they left the headquarters; however, she didn't want to slow down the mission. With her head hung low and her body exhausted from a lack of energy, she continued walking until she crashed right into Kanda from behind.

"Ah - !" She cried out.

"Watch where you are going!" He grunted back.

"I… I am sorry. I... I mean I didn't realize you had stopped."

"Tch…You weren't paying attention!"

He motioned her to the side of the road where there were some large tree stumps for her to sit down.

"Eh…. Why are we stopping?" She wondered.

"We are almost there. So eat some food before you go." He narrowed his eyes, "Don't get me wrong, I don't care if you eat or not. I don't

want them to hear us coming from miles away with that stomach of yours."

"Oh!" she put both hands to cover her stomach, as if that would stop it from making the noise. _This is so embarrassing_.

Kanda leaned back on to the trees with his arms crossed. While Miranda pulled out her cooking wares. Within minutes, she started a fire and boiled some noodles in the pot.

"Dinner is ready," she chimed.

"I am not eating," Kanda grunted.

"But, aren't you hungry?" Miranda insisted.

"Tch…" He clenched his teeth and turned his head to look the other way.

_How can he not be hungry? _She wondered. Miranda was beginning to see how the tall fearsome swordsman could sometimes act so child like.

She stood up to Kanda and offered him a bowl of hot steamy noodles. "Please have some noodles. I don't think I could eat it all by myself." She pleaded.

He waited for a couple of seconds to see if she would go away, but she was still waiting persistently. She gave him one of her nervous smile with her dark brown eyes looking up at him. They were such innocent eyes.

"Fine," He took the bowl from her. "I don't know why you would care."

They both sat down on a tree stump and enjoyed a warm bowl of soba noodles. At first, Kanda was hesitant to try her cooking, but after tasting the soba, he was surprised Miranda's cooking actually tasted good. He noticed there was something different about the soup.

"What did you add to it?"

"Oh, I use Klare Gemiisesuppe as the soup base. It's a German style clear vegetable soup. It adds a bit more nutrients and flavor to it,"

she looked at him with a little unease. "Do you not like the soup?"

"It's edible." He drank the last drop of the soup. "Exorcist doesn't need to cook. It is part of the Finders' duty to support us."

"B-b-but our Finder is not here," she protested softly. "I lived by myself through life, so I had to learn how to cook. The food taste better it

if is cooked with the heart. That's why I think cooking is really important."

"Rubbish," he rolled his eyes.

"Kanda-Kun, I suppose you don't cook?"

"Tch... absolutely not!"

"Then what happens if you go hungry and no one is there to cook for you?"

"I will eat grass_." A stupid question deserves a stupid answer._

"R..really!" Miranda was taken off guard.

Kanda smacked his hand on to his forehand. "No! Stupid, I don't eat grass." He couldn't believe Miranda is so gullible.

He rose up from the tree stump. "It's time to go."

"Oh...okay." Miranda quickly packed up and the two headed toward the entrance of Wan Kok village.

* * *

The sky was painted with dark colors of blue and purple clouds with the glowing crescent moon hung high. Kanda and Miranda have finally reached Wan Kok Village entrance.

"Do you know why this village is called Wan Kok?" Kanda asked as his eyes examined the surrounding.

Miranda shook her head.

"It's because Wan Kok in Chinese means Illusion. The village of Illusion, this should be interesting. You can stay at the entrance while I go

in to check it out."

"No... I...I am coming with you." She insisted.

"As long as you don't get in my way," he smirked as he took his first step into the village.

It was a tiny village with the market square in the middle and old houses built around it. The only light illuminating the streets were the purple, red, and orange lanterns hung around the roof of the houses. It wasn't too late before the villagers noticed they have visitors.

Miranda looked left and right as all the women in the village started to gather in the square with their faces all turned toward the angry swordsman a few meters in front of her. She was wondering why they all wore such a gloomy appearance as if they were all attending a funeral possession.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind, covered her mouth and pulled her into the darkness of the back alley. Miranda didn't even have enough time to scream.

From children to elders, young and old, they were all females in the square. They circled around Kanda as they were fascinated by his appearance. There were chanting everywhere and one of the girls came up to him. "Greetings to our visitor, we don't have many guests that come to our village. Will you be kind to stop by Lady Yunin's place?"

"Why?" Kanda shot her a cold stare.

"I apologize for not mentioning, Lady Yunin is the priestess of our village. It is customary that she would like to pay her respect to all

visitors that come by this village."

"Lead the way." Kanda already felt a weird suspicion of this place. One of his hands grasped the handle of his Mugen. He looked around for Miranda before he headed off, but there was no sign of the clumsy Exorcist.

"Are you expecting someone with you?" He was interrupted by the messenger girl.

"No" He responded and the girl led him to the center of the village where the palace awaits. _That clumsy girl will just have to be on her own._

_

* * *

  
_

After a few minutes, Miranda opened her eyes, feeling rather dazed. "What happened?" She scanned the tiny room around her as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Where am I?"

A girl came into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of water and clean towels. "She's awake!" She called out to the next room and an older woman came into the room.

Miranda was still in a daze until the older lady spoke up. "Miss, we apologize having to take you in like this. We didn't want anyone else to see us talking to you. Please, will you help our village? It's been an awful ordeal." The woman's voice was shaking.

The young girl quickly placed the tray down and quickly brought over a chair for the older lady to sit down beside the bed.

"What happened?" Miranda placed her hand on the women's shoulder to calm her down. "It's ok to tell me. We are Exorcists and we are here to help."

"As you have already noticed, there is not a single man that resides in this village anymore. It started one night, when a wild wind blew in from the North turning the village into chaos. On the same night, a young Priestess came into town and told us the God of Wind was angry that we have not built a shrine for him. All the men came to fight for their lives, but they were no match against the power of wind. In one night, a hurricane came and swept them away. My husband unfortunately was taken away as with many others." The woman's eyes began to water with tears.

"So no one survived?" Miranda whispered in disbelief.

"That's not all true. The Priestess had told us if we were to keep the God of Wind from destroying our village, we have to sacrifice those men who survived as an offering to the God" The woman continued. "Luckily, many were able to escape to the nearby cities."

The young girl sobbed. "Fortunately, my brother was one of them to escape. I haven't seen him for a long time."

"Can't you leave the village to look for him?" Miranda asked.

"No, the priestess will not allow it," the woman shook her head. "Please don't tell anyone I spoke badly of her. But I think this disappearance is most likely her doing. I have a bad feeling your friend could be in grave danger."

Miranda thought about Kanda, "Don't worry about him; he is also an Exorcist and he can protect himself."

"Even from Illusions?" The women raised her eyebrows. "The Priestess has never failed to capture a man's heart and sacrifice him to the God of Wind."

* * *

**A/N **- Once again, my special thanks go to Koulin for proofreading all my mistakes and making them disappear .

I think one more chapter to go. As always, I would love to know what your thoughts are about this chapter and perhaps let me know what you would like to see in the next one. Hearing from your reviews really makes writing this story all worthwhile!


End file.
